Kanpai
by FemmePhantom
Summary: Series of vignettes following Renji and Rukia's relationship after the Soul Society arc.  No spoilers unless you haven't gotten that far, and then only if you squint.  Rating will change.
1. Bashing Byakuya

**For Cassandra, because sometimes begging really does get things done. ;) Oh, and if you recognize it, it ain't mine.**

* * *

"Renji?" she called out as she opened the door to Urahara'shop. All the lights were off and it was almost too quiet, but she knew he was there. She could smell the tang of his cigarettes and hear the low music emanating from the small room in the back he was temporarily calling his own. 

"Renji," she called out again, curious why he wasn't answering. She gingerly slipped her feet out of her shoes and soundlessly padded over to his door, the night casting eerie shadows along the floor.

But as soon as she slid his door open, she knew why he hadn't answered.

He had headphones on. Rukia watched him for a little while, studying his profile as he lay on the ground, eyes closed, feet crossed and bobbing in time with the music. She leaned against the doorjamb, prepared to let her eyes drink their fill.

His face was relaxed for once, and a bittersweet smile stole across his features as he mouthed the words to the song. It wasn't one she recognized, but she felt the bass all the way into the marrow of her bones, he had it turned up so loud.

He casually brought his cigarette to his lips and took a long drag, and Rukia sub-consciously licked her lips as she stared at him.

Renji. Her best friend – or, at least he was. Now she wasn't quite sure what they were. Which is why she'd trekked over here tonight. To see how he really felt about her, and how she felt about him.

Her eyes traveled down his neck and stopped at his collarbone, the indentation making her mouth go dry. She wondered what he tasted like, what he would do if she were to go over there and take a bite out of him.

"Rukia," his lazy drawl quickly put a halt to where her thoughts were headed, and she almost cursed his rotten timing.

He lazily sat up and leaned his back onto the closest wall, careful to bring his makeshift ashtray (an empty soda can) and his cup of whatever with him.

"Hello? Earth to Rukia," he said again snapping his fingers and pulling his earbuds out.

"Hi Renji," she finally said, and inwardly cursed at herself and her sudden loss to form complete sentences.

"What are you doing here?"

His tone rattled her, and she straitened immediately. This was familiar territory now, and she knew all the steps to this little dance.

"I came to see you," she said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "It feels like you've been avoiding me lately…"

"We've been avoiding each other for at least 50 years, now. I would've thought you'd be used to it by now."

Rukia stiffened and stood even straighter – which she didn't think was possible – but then she forced herself to relax as she remembered why she was here.

"I know we have. And aren't you tired of it?"

Renji deftly picked up a chipped cup with his thumb and last two fingers of his right hand, his cigarette balancing between his index and middle finger.

She waited patiently (at least what she considered patiently) for his answer, only to get a casual shrug of his shoulders in return.

Rukia took a deep breath and reminded herself that killing him wouldn't solve anything. Tilting her head she asked, "What are you drinking anyways?"

He gave her another one of those mysterious smiles of his. "A bottle of Shunsui Taichou's finest sake. Care for a glass."

She eagerly nodded her head and moved to sit next to him, her legs crossing over each other as he poured her some of the rice wine into yet another chipped cup. Rukia cautiously reached for her glass once Renji had finished pouring, careful not to let her fingers brush his.

He, of course, noted her careful movements and made a bitter smile as he sipped the alcohol.

"So," Rukia said, trying to fill the awkward silence that surrounded them, "what are we drinking to? To remember or forget."

Renji shook his head, causing a few strands of his crimson hair to shake free from his loose ponytail. "It's not like that," he said with a smile.

"Then why are we drinking?"

"I'm drinking because…" he paused for a moment, thinking of what exactly to tell her, "…because I got to kick some Hollow ass today."

She held out her glass as she grinned at him. "To kicking Hollow ass. Kanpai!"

* * *

A few hours later found a very tipsy Rukia, and a slightly drunk Renji. The two of them were leaning against each other, trying to keep each other up, and laughing like loons. 

"So, what will we toast to this time?" Rukia slurred.

They'd already drunk to Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays – Rukia was adamant that they not toast Mondays for some reason – to rainy days and sunny days, to sugar, to candy, to knowing how to drink from the little juice boxes that were all but impossible to open, to Silver Dragonfly Sunglasses, to ice cream on hot summer days, to seeing Hitsugaya Taichou's face whenever someone in this world called him a kid, to watching Ichigo and his father fight, to seeing Ishida sewing Kon a new dress, to seeing Ikkaku pick random fights with people on the street, to seeing Matsumoto and Yumichika go mascara shopping, to watching Urahara swindle his customers out of their money, and now they were starting to run out of things to drink to.

"Let's drink to your brother -"

"No," she cut him off, "let's drink to that whole mess in the Seireitei being over."

"Yeah," Renji said with a faraway look in his eyes. "At least your brother came through in the end," he mumbled as he downed the rest of the sake in his glass.

"Ah come on, Renji. My brother's not so bad. And if I re-re-remember correctly," she stammered, "You were there with him to bring me back to 'face the music'."

With a grimace in place, Renji turned up the music, poured himself another glass of sake, and downed it.

"Well, this room has turned awfully somber all of a sudden," he said as he got shakily to his feet. "So, in order to lighten the mood, I will now astound you with my impersonations."

"Astound away," Rukia said in between giggles.

"I will. Now, for my first trick, I will do Byakuya Kuchiki." He gave Rukia a wink and then took a deep breath as he rolled his shoulders and popped his neck. Reaching up with a free hand, he pulled some of his hair loose from the front, so that it was covering one side of his face. When he next looked at her, his face and voice were completely devoid of all emotion.

"Hello," he said in a voice that was deeper and dryer than his own. "My name is Byakuya Kuchiki, head of the Kuchiki clan, and all around fun guy to be around."

Rukia covered her mouth to keep from spitting her drink everywhere.

"Being as powerful and wise as I am, I, naturally, suffer from an overwhelming range of emotions. For example," Renji continued as he placed a finger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. "For example, when I am overcome with sadness, this is what my face looks like."

Rukia hastily swallowed her mouthful of sake as Renji's face didn't change one iota.

"Thank you. And this, is what it looks like when I am overflowing with joy."

Again, nothing happened to alter his face or his posture. Rukia fell back onto Renji's makeshift bed laughing and clutching her sides.

Taking her reactions as signs of encouragement, Renji went on. "And this, is my angry face."

This time, he turned down the corner of his lip ever so slightly, and Rukia laughed even harder and louder than ever, and accidentally kicked over the rest of the sake in the midst of her spasms.

"Shit Rukia!" Renji exclaimed as he lunged towards the spill. He looked around his cluttered room to find something to use as a rag, and ended up using some of his dirty clothes to mop up most of the spilled drink.

"Oh Renji, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to. Honest."

"It's okay," he told her. "Over the years I've gotten used to cleaning up other people's messes." Renji instantly regretted his words and cringed as he heard her sharp intake of breath.

Looking up he saw her stricken face and his heart clenched a little. "Rukia I'm sorry. I didn't mean it…" he shouted at her back as she tore out of his room. He looked down at the mess on his floor and sighed.

It was nothing compared to the mess their friendship was in, now. Tossing the sopping shirts to the side of the room, he changed the CD on the stereo to one of the slower mixes he'd had that Keigo kid burn for him.

Turning up the volume enough to just hear it outside, he grabbed his pack of smokes and got two bottles of water from the kitchen.

As soon as he stepped onto the small porch of the odd shop, he looked over and saw Rukia sitting on one of the small benches, hugging her knees to herself, her profile highlighted by the moonlight. Renji strolled over to and gently held out a bottle of water for her.

She stared at his peace offering for a while before taking it, and greedily chugging down half the bottle.

"Easy there sweetheart," he said around the cigarette in his lips. "Don't drink too fast or you'll throw everything back up."

Taking a lungful of air, she wiped her mouth on her arm and screwed the lid back on the bottle with a little more force than necessary.

I'm -" she started, but Renji cut her off as he draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

"Na uh, you got nothing to apologize for little girl. What I said was harsh, uncalled for, and mostly untrue."

She sniffled a little at the last part, and he felt like even more of an ass. Taking a long drag, he continued as he pulled her closer to him, still.

"I'm not saying that the two of us haven't faced our share of problems, but I'd be lying of saying that I wasn't anywhere or doing anything I didn't want to do." Renji felt her burry her face in his shoulder, and her hot tears that were now staining it.

"Listen Rukia," he said as his hands traced small circles over her back. "I know I keep messing things up and saying all the wrong things, but you were right about one thing earlier tonight. Fifty years of this song and dance is too much for me, and I'm damned tired of it. So, what do you say that we start over tonight? As of 30 seconds ago, everything that's in the past stays there, and we start to move forward."

Rukia looked up at him with her soaked lashes and tear-streaked face, and he knew she'd do it. He casually wiped away the few stray tears that his shirt hadn't managed to absorb, and dropped his voice an octave or two.

"Whaddya say? Will you give this stray dog one more chance?"

He felt her laughter bubble out of her first, but he didn't let himself smile until it floated past her lips.

Playfully, she smacked at his arm, and then rested her head on a dry spot on his chest.

"Of course I will. That's the reason I came over here tonight, isn't it?"

"Well, that's what you said, but what you women say and what you mean are often two very different things."

She smacked him on his stomach. "I can't believe you'd say something like that so soon after we finally managed to bury the hatchet!?"

"But you know I'm only teasin'."

"That's not the point," she mumbled as she snuggled in closer to his warmth.

Renji was about to say something back, but when he looked down, she was already asleep.

Chuckling softly he finished his smoke, and carefully moved their two bottles of water over to the side of the bench. And before you knew it, he had followed her into slumber.

And the two of them holding on to each other on the porch, was the first thing Urahara and Tessai saw as they approached the shop in the morning.

* * *

**A/N: This is more than a one shot, but I'm thinking it'll be more like a series than a WIP. I haven't finished it yet, but I do have big plans for the two of them. And I'm sorry if Renji comes off as a type of cowboy in this installment. It was unintentional, I assure you, but I like him like this...Actually, he seems more like Gambit from X-Men. Huh, I haven't even been reading any X-Men fics. Anyhoo,**

**As always people, if you're a readin', please be reviewin'.**

**Till next time my pretties!**

**Much love,**

**FemmePhantom**


	2. Bella Notte

**Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it ain't mine.**

**Spoiler Alert: If you haven't seen episodes 118 or 119, you might want to skip this.**

* * *

"So Freeloader, it looks like you and Rukia had an eventful night." 

Rukia was instantly awake at the sound of the shopkeeper's voice, and she looked up to see Urahara with his cane and Tessai with his arms full of groceries staring at her and Renji on the porch. She tried to pull away from him and sit up strait, but his hold only became even stronger around her tiny shoulders.

"I wouldn't necessarily call it _eventful_ as it was more…_progressive_," Renji said with a sly look on his face.

"Good morning Tessai. Urahara." She'd had enough of being talked about like she wasn't here.

"Good morning Rukia." Urahara chuckled at her as he tilted his hat up ever so slightly, Tessai just nodded, his mouth a thin line.

She tried to straiten up again, but Renji's arm wouldn't move.

Grinning, the shop owner asked, "Shall I set another place for breakfast?"

"No, that's alright. I should get going soon."

"If you insist my dear. Come on, Tessai. I'm starving."

Once the two men were inside, Rukia turned to Renji and stared up at him in disbelief. "Just what the hell was that about!? Why wouldn't you let me up? That was one of the most embarrassing situations I've ever been in and you didn't have the common decency to…" she stopped very suddenly when she realized Renji was shaking with silent laughter.

"You asshole," she spat out as she shot up from the bench. But before she could take a step forward, his hand reached out and pulled her back down beside him.

"Calm down little girl. Nothing happened that you need to be ashamed about, and it's just Urahara. He of all people has no right to judge whatever did or _didn't _happen. And if nothing else, the man knows how to keep a secret. You gotta give him that."

Rukia huffed and crossed her arms, but she wasn't about to let Renji off the hook that easily.

"That's not the point. Just because you don't care about what anyone thinks about you, doesn't mean the rest of us feel the same way."

"So what, are you saying you're embarrassed to be seen with me?"

She quickly turned around and placed a hand on his arm. "Of course I'm not saying that, but Renji – oh you bastard."

He was smiling again, and she realized that he was just trying to get a rise out of her. She let out an over-exaggerated sigh and leaned back against him.

The two of them watched the sun rise higher and higher, each perfectly content with the morning and the company they were in.

"We should do this more often," she said at last.

"What?"

"This," she answered as she reached up and entwined her fingers in his. "You and me. We should have a designated night for just the two of us."

Renji was quiet a little too long for her comfort, and she was about to speak up and tell him to forget the whole thing.

"We should," he replied at last. "Once a week would be too much to ask for, but how about once a month? I'm sure we'd both be able to swing that. Whaddya say?"

He looked down the same time she looked up, and their faces were so close, Rukia forgot to breathe. She stared at his mouth, which for once, wasn't quirking, and it felt like a million Hell Butterflies had been set loose in her stomach.

She quickly pulled away from him, and jumped up to her feet. "That sounds good," she said as she started to smooth out the bottom of her dress. "Same time next month?"

Renji's mouth was quirking once again as he answered. "It's a date." He watched as she clumsily made her way down the stairs and onto the street, smile in place.

"Freeloader! Why does my shop smell like a distillery?"

* * *

A month later, and they were sitting in a remote spot in the park for their little celebration. Renji had somehow managed to pilfer another bottle of sake from Shunsui, and Rukia provided a blanket and some snacks for the outing. 

There was a soccer match going on nearby, as well as a small outdoor concert; so there was ample entertainment for them.

"So tell me about your tattoos," Rukia kept pestering him about them.

"What do you wanna know?"

"Everything," she slurred. "What they mean. Why you got them. Did they hurt? Who did them? Are you going to get more?"

"I don't think you're ready for the answers for the first two yet, but I can answer the others. Yes they hurt. Some guy in the Soul Society whose name you're not getting because I don't want you pestering him. And yes, I'm planning on more."

"But if they hurt, why are you getting more?" she asked as she traced the lines on his neck.

Renji pursed his lips in thought, trying to figure out the best way to explain himself. "The hurt goes away," he said at last. "And once the needle starts to dance over your skin, you get this…feeling of euphoria. An adrenaline rush or something. And besides," he continued as he turned his arm over, staring at the intersecting design. "Once the pain goes away, you're left with something beautiful. Unique. A little piece of your soul bared."

"Oh really," Rukia queried as she poured them both more sake. "And what do yours say about you?"

Renji grinned wolfishly at her. "That I find beauty in complexity."

Giggling, Rukia pushed herself upright. "Well I have to disagree," she said in a haughty tone.

"What?" a perplexed Renji asked.

Rukia casually ran her fingers through her hair, pulling it away from her face. "I think that tattoos are not beautiful. At least not as beautiful as my orange collar."

Renji was grinning now that he got what she was doing, and jumped up on his feet. "Oh, you mean your dog collar? Like the ones the vets use to keep the animals from licking themselves? I've always wondered why you'd wear something so tacky."

Rukia 'hmmphed'. "Well, at least I don't find it necessary to pick fights with everyone to show off my _masculinity_. Please, we all know that you wish you were Yachiru riding around on Kenpachi's shoulder. Jealousy is _so _not beautiful."

Renji was doing his best to keep a strait face and not break character. "Oh yeah? Why don't you come and say that to my face, huh!? Afraid to take on a real man? Or have you forgotten that I've mastered my bankai, when you can't even get your zanpaktou to manifest?"

Rukia gasped and shot up. "You take that back!"

"Make me."

Rukia lunged forward, and the two of them proceeded to play fight for about ten minutes, before they both collapsed they were laughing so hard.

Rukia rolled over so that her head landed on Renji's outstretched arm.

"You're actually pretty good at that," he told her.

"Yeah well, I had a good teacher," she said catching her breath. "I'm really having a good time, Renji."

He tilted his head to better look at her. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"I'm not. I mean, it's a beautiful night. We're listening to beautiful music. Watching the beautiful game."

"Okay Rukia, you can stop it now."

"No, I'm sure I've got a few more in here somewhere. Let's see, ummmm, the weather is beautiful. The -" she was abruptly cut off as Renji put his hand over her mouth.

"That's enough little girl. Why don't you just lie back and look at the stars, huh?"

"Why?" she smirked. "Are you tired of barking at them?"

He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. "Maybe I am. Maybe I am."

* * *

**A/N: Brownie points to any soccer fans who get the joke. **

**As always people, if you're a readin', please be reviewin'.**

**Till next time my pretties.**

**Much love,**

**FemmePhantom**


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